Digital Music Mag - Sound & Stuff

KORE is a not easy to explain new product from Native Instrument. Therefore the first quick reviews on other sites have not been to promising. What exactly is it: Just another controller-box with knobs? A standalone vst player like receptor? Now more news are available: Here is a note from a private NAMM06 demo show (Live NAMM06 Blog) that offers more details and NI itself updated its homepage adding a little movie. So finally things clear up a bit and KORE seems to be interesting again. Maybe NI should stop using this stupid advertising-language like "incredible power", "the evolution of music production" and so on .... Who believes this anyway?

As far as i understand the product: KORE can host any vst-plug and KORE can be used to handle all the sounds on a daw: just look for a sound and all necessary plugs will be loaded. This would really make working a bit more easy. BUT: Do i really need a hardware-box to look for my sounds? Would it not be great to just have some software like a modern VST "Sounddiver" to organice all sounds?

I bet Charles Dye (MiLaR) is jumping up and down right now! The new SSL 4000 Collection from Waves will bring a great emulation of the SSL G and E series (including the legandary "Buss Compressor")!

Here is what Sonicstate says: The Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor captures the unique sound of renowned master buss center compressor of the SL 4000 G console, including its IC input and twin VCA gain-reduction amplifier design. This compressor has long been prized by top engineers for its ability to “glue together” tracks, and is considered by many to be the ultimate finalizer that transforms a mix into a finished record. It’s also ideal for taming piano dynamics or adding punch to drums and percussion. Full story here.

This info from Roland sounds great: Put the Fun Back in Synthesis! Roland announces the most friendly and fun analog-modeling instrument on the market: the SH-201. For synth pros, the SH-201 will remind them of why they fell in love with synthesizers in the first place. Simply, the SH-201 is a blast to play! It sounds great too, thanks to such features as Roland’s famous Supersaw waveform, resonant filter, saturation control, and more.

Only bad thing: No release schedule or pricing details are currently available. So, i hope they will have a reasonable price on the SH-201. This really could be fun. AND: Maybe they are doing a better job then Access. The Virus TI seems still not to be "Totally Integrated". So lets just hope Roland knows better how to get hardware to work as vst. Only thing that scares me is that they gonna use "USB port for audio/MIDI connection to computer". More Info ...

Solid-State-Logic.com finally offers the free LMC1-Plug for PC too. I bet there will be more plugins from SSL available soon. Here is what SSL says about the free plugin: Every now and again a piece of audio equipment comes along that defines the sound of an era. Back in 1979 Solid State Logic gave birth to a legendary recording console. Capturing the signature sound of the 'Listen Mic Compressor' from SSL's "classic" 1980s SL 4000 Series consoles, the LMC-1 delivers a compression sound perfect for crunching room mics, mangling overdriven guitars or causing sonic mayhem on a vocal track. It was originally intended to prevent overloading on a tracking room 'talkback' mic.

Now AudioRealism finally released Bass Line Pro. I just tried the Demo and it sounds very promising. But i will have to test it a bit more to find out if it's worth the price of another €95 (cross grade offer) ;-)

This is what company founder Mike Janney says: "AudioRealism Bass Line Pro is a monophonic/polyphonic semi-modular synthesizer plug-in with an integrated pattern sequencer. While the unique sound of the Bass Line is well known and has become a standard in the music industry, the Pro version builds on its strengths and extends on them to reach new sonic possibilities without losing any of its original expression."

Want to get your special Los Angeles record deal? Here is your big chance at Ebay. This is what the seller says: "THIS IS A PACKAGE WORTH OVER $100,000.00. If you have an album already and you want it to move your career forward, this auction is a MUST!!!"

Got bored making music using your highend gear only? Then you might try your old HP ScanJet instead. GanjaTron's Crap Site shows how you can turn your scanner into a real music instrument by using the "PLAY TUNE" feature (Manual PDF). Of course the sound of the scanner is - lets say very special ;-) - but its fun anyway. More ...

Behind the scenes at Windows Vista recording session: Robert Fripp (Perhaps best known for his founding role in the band King Crimsons) got a very special job from Bill Gates: This clip on Channel 9 video shows him recording various sounds we will all hear in Windows Vista soon. Lets see if he makes such a good job as Brian Eno in 1985 for Win 95. Enjoy!

Ready for the ultimate kick in your butt? Here we go! Ideal for gaming, movies, music and drummers: Buttkicker Gamer Bass Shaker from Fischer-Amps gives you a "silent subwoofer"! Description says: For workplace or home, the ButtKicker Gamer easily attaches to most standard center post chairs. Feel the low end without making the room loud. Turn down or turn off your subwoofer and still feel all the bass you want. Experience powerful bass even while using headphones. Ideal for apartmentor dormitory use. You can get this BassAss at Amazon for $99,99! If you want to shake your butt even harder just go for the bigger ButtKicker LFE Kit.

ValveTone '62 from Tritonedigital.com is sure not a new plugin. But it took me some time to give it a try. Mainly because of the free Pluggo extensions that are needed to run this plug as vst. In the past Pluggo did not run too well on my DAW. Anyway, this time i did not have any problems with the Pluggo extensions and could test valvetone. Just after playing with it for about an hour i had to order this unique, vibe-laden plugin that pays tribute to the EQs of yesterday.

Damon, Co-Founder of Tritonedigital, says: "The ValveTone, in case you didn't know, is based on an all tube EQ from 1962. It's part of a rackmounted mono mixer (all tube and p2p wired) from a small company called Grommes. No frequency markers, just TONE. Also a great set of mic preamps, very EMI red series. Seriously "touch sensitive" to use a guitar amp phrase. Great for rock and roll bass, vocals and mono drums. Also the most insane tube overdrive and "fuzz" when cranked all the way up." More ...

Clearly one of the finest mobile recording studios available today, it was built around a Solid State Logic 4000G+ (used to record 74.5% of U.S. No. 1 singles). Our state-of-the-art control room, designed by Peter Mauer of studio bau:ton , featues walls made from porous aluminum (alamute) and diffusers manufactured by RPG Diffuser Systems. Our 5.1 surround monitoring system, comprised of Dynaudio and Genelec monitors, is frequently tuned by Bob Hodas, a world-renowned acoustic analyst. Our console is regularly maintained by Phil Nicolay of Los Angeles-based "THE DESK DOCTOR". More ...

The Freesound Project aims to create a huge collaborative database of audio snippets, samples, recordings, bleeps, ... released under the Creative Commons Sampling Plus License. The Freesound Project provides new and interesting ways of accessing these samples.

I just bought the learning-dvd from Charles Dye called "Mix it like a record". I watched it twice now and i have to say its very usefull.

One of Charles Dye basic ideas of mixing itb (in the box/daw) is in short words to add some analog distortion to the channels and stereo bus. this and his idea of mixing through a compressor pointed me into a new direction.

Beside of the rather ugly style of the video, this learning-dvd is really nice. But beware: it's definitly not cheap (130$).

So ... if you read the next links carefully, you can get most of it for free ;-)